The recent MrBeast controversies on social media, explained

The MrBeast brand is one of the biggest on YouTube, sprawling outwards to encapsulate ghost kitchens, chocolate bars, big challenges, an Amazon reality show, and massive philanthropic stunts. Jimmy Donaldson, the man behind MrBeast, has been the subject of both acclaim and suspicion. His fans praise the entertainment value of his videos and the real-world impact of his charitable acts, while his detractors suggest he’s afflicted with a growth-focused, profit-motivated mindset, or “CEO brain,” and that his style is so endlessly replicated by hopeful YouTube imitators that it’s pulled down the entire platform.

A string of recent controversies have left the MrBeast project more vulnerable than ever. Donaldson has commented in a limited capacity, but there are multiple firestorms that have spun up out of the original fracas. Some of these have festered for some time, going unaddressed, and others are relatively recent. Either way, they suggest that Donaldson and his operation may be far more flawed than his public success might indicate.

The first controversy sprang up last month and kicked off an avalanche of various other accusations. On July 21, content creators began to circulate claims that Ava Kris Tyson, a long-time collaborator and personal friend of Donaldson, had sent inappropriate messages, filthy jokes, and lewd comments to a minor fan approximately eight years ago. These messages were sent by Tyson, then 20, to the fan, LavaGS, who was 13 at the time, in a public Discord channel. Both Tyson and LavaGS have confirmed the interactions occurred. The two went on to maintain a seemingly friendly relationship online for years afterward, with LavaGS serving as a Twitch moderator for Tyson.

LavaGS has said publicly that he did not consider this to be a grooming situation; however, Tyson took to her X account to apologize for what happened.

Tyson announced that she would be leaving the MrBeast brand on July 23. On July 24, Donaldson made a statement of his own, saying that he had hired an independent investigation agency to go through the available evidence.

In the wake of this controversy, others came forward with criticism of Donaldson and his operation. This included a YouTube video from an anonymous person describing themselves as a former MrBeast employee who discussed their discomfort with a YouTube channel of MrBeast’s size actively promoting itself and trying to garner loyalty from an audience that includes a lot of children.

The video describes MrBeast as “a fraud” and says that his giveaways are often a game of smoke and mirrors designed to excite and entice children. The video also mentioned a time that Donaldson courted controversy by encouraging customers to volunteer and stock, organize, and monitor the shelves for his Feastables chocolate to ensure the promotion was as successful as possible.

The alleged former employee, who maintained their anonymity by posting under the handle “DogPack404,” said in an X post that the MrBeast corporation had sent them a cease and desist over this video. They also said that more updates are on the way.

The video covers a lot of ground, but it’s an interesting look at the potential pitfalls of advertising to children — a practice that is enormously regulated on traditional media channels, but not so much on YouTube. As for MrBeast’s popular game show-style contest videos, the video claims that contestants are often sourced from Donaldson’s social and professional circles, and that major parts of the festivities are staged to make for a better product.

A current MrBeast employee posted on X to debunk the claims made in this video; theirs is not a full response, but it does counter some of the accusations regarding faking videos and contestant eligibility. Polygon reached out to Donaldson and the MrBeast team for comment and did not receive a reply before publication time.

The final controversy centers around Beast Games, an Amazon reality TV competition series currently filming in Las Vegas. Beast Games takes inspiration from Squid Game, the famous Netflix series depicting a fictional death match; Beast Games is made up of physical challenges undergone by contestants across several days. Vital Vegas, a Las Vegas news and entertainment outlet, has covered some of the contradictory reports surrounding the filming of Beast Games. One source told Vital Vegas that they think “the production is a shitshow and unprepared for the scale. Making decisions as they go along. The bare bones medic staff on site is not adequate and were overwhelmed.”

Vital Vegas reported that contestants say they’re being denied medication, have a lack of access to pads and tampons, and were given a “hideous porridge” to eat.

YouTuber Austin Green has created a 19-minute long video summing up the allegations around Beast Games from various contestants. It’s a convenient rundown of the various sources’ accounts, the responses they’ve received, and the overall picture of how the controversy has unfolded.

It’s unlikely that any of these incidents, individually, have a chance at toppling the MrBeast empire. However, the way that they’ve come to light in a cluster makes the resulting spotlight on Donaldson much larger. The subsequent dialogue has led to more questions about the sustainability of MrBeast’s vast entertainment empire. We’ll have to wait to see which of these criticisms Donaldson chooses to address, or whether he simply waits out all of the social media furor.